The empty heart (CorruptedShipping)
by Moxie-Strike
Summary: A confrontation on the Lookout leads to Whi-Two taking the hard way down. Hugh and Leo are shocked, but Lack-Two seems like he doesn't care at all. How could they end up like that? To find the answers, both of them have to survey their past, otherwise they'll become empty. Or are they already? (Leo/Petashi is missing in the list of characters?)
1. Chapter 1: Left

**The empty heart**

* * *

 **So, this is one of two Threeshots I started working on. I had the ideas in my mind forever but never got to write them down properly. It's supposed to be a little darker than the usual atmosphere in my stories, I hope you enjoy it anyway or all the more.**

 **I'd always love to know what you like or dislike about my story, be it the content, my writing style or anything else you want to say. ^^**

 **I don't own the characters, places or Pokemon itself, and I have no intentions to earn money with this story in any way!**

* * *

She ran up the stages as fast as possible. This was the last place where she could hide. If he found her up here, it would be a dead end. She stopped as she reached the platform, trying to keep her breath as quiet as possible to be able to listen. Slow steps came closer. Game over.

As Lack-Two climbed the last stairs she backed away, ending in the middle of the Lookout. „This is the end of the line, Whi-Two", he said with a determined voice. „Give me the pendant. Now!"

„Never!", the girl cried, closing her fist around the object of interest to the agent panicky. „What do you even want it for? Who are you?"

Without changing his facial expression, the boy pulled out his badge. „International Police Superintendent Black Two", he said, technically reading the words that were shining in the moonlight.

„International Police?", she repeated unbelieving. „No... That can't be true, you..." She took some more steps back. „You lied all along."

He chuckled for the fracture of a second, but without smiling. „Weren't we all?"

„I will not let you do any harm to Lord N", Whi-Two spoke half-whining, earning a sigh in return.

He kept approaching her with short steps. „I'm fighting a war, Whi-Two. Your bigotry will help Neo Team Plasma by taking over Unova, would your Lord N want that? Give it to me, it'll help him."

She shook her head, reaching the railing with her back. „You'll have to make me."

Now she almost hoped any part of his face would move. But she was disappointed. He stayed just as grim and calmly determined. And his answer was also not what she would have wished for. „You think I wouldn't?" With these words, he called out his Dewott, which immediately extended its blades of water. In the meantime, Lack-Two held out his hand. „This could be easy."

After another look at her possession, the girl was sure she couldn't figure out how his mind worked. „Don't you feel any sympathy at all?", she whined loudly.

His answer was surprisingly quiet as he looked at the ground for a second. „I don't feel anything."

It was at this moment that Leo and Hugh arrived at the scene. „What's up here?", the latter screamed as aggressive as he always was.

„Please don't fight, guys", Leo pleaded rather insecure compared with his friend. „Tell us what happened, I'm sure we can find a peaceful solution."

Lack-Two didn't move in his stance, but turned his head towards them. „Just leave. This is too big for you", he ascertained.

However, this only enraged Hugh further. „I'm taller than you, and I won't let you hurt her for whatever stupid reasons you claim to have!" He sent his Vibrava forward, which took place between Dewott and Whi-Two

The young detective sighed. „That after all you would be the one to defend a member of Team Plasma..." He made a quick gesture and Dewott pointed its blades towards the dragon type so it couldn't attack right away.

Hugh stopped his rage for a moment. „What? Team Plasma..."

Now Leo tried to walk closer towards Lack-Two. „Please, we're friends, don't just accuse her like that."

And the addressed smiled weakly. „Friends? You don't even know her true name. Isn't that right, Mei?"  
He looked at the girl again, who returned a face of utter shock as she pressed the pendant against her chest desperately. How could he know that? What else did he know?

Even Leo showed doubts. „Is that true?", he asked the girl, who didn't answer.

However, Hugh wouldn't be hindered by such details. „I don't care what her name is, you have no right to bother her. Vibrava, Dragon Claw!" His Pokemon did as ordered, and its claws clashed with the swords of Dewott. A second later, the water type won the duel with its superior strength and knocked its foe out with one hit.

„We've played this game for long enough", Lack-Two murmured as he walked up to Mei who couldn't shy away any further. „Nobody prevents the inevitable. Give me the pendant or I'll take it by force."

The girl saw only one last way to save her Lord's secrets. The hard way down. „I won't let you get this, no matter what it costs!" With these words, she threw herself over the railing. Three seconds, then she hit the water.

Hugh and Leo were shocked. The smaller boy hurried down the stairs immediately, while the other started to do so as well but then stopped to question why Lack-Two didn't follow them. Nor move at all. Nor react at all. „What's wrong with you?", he shouted furiously as he noticed his indifference.

„She's not important", the boy muttered while apparently being lost in his thoughts.

„She's dying! You machine!" With these words, Hugh left him, too. They echoed through the superintendents mind. 'You machine'... When did he hear that before?

* * *

He only heard the sirens of the police cars surrounding him. He saw people in black uniforms shouting to each other, but he didn't pay attention to what they were talking about. He only looked at them in the first place because they had blocked his view on the smoking car he just got out of. The smoking car his parents died in. This six-year-old boy's parents just died. And he cried because he knew they were dead.  
A young man in a long dark coat came towards him. The boy ignored him, so he had to kneel down until he was on eye-level with him and looked at him in a way he couldn't see the car anymore once again. „What's your name?", he asked with a friendly voice.

„Kyohei", the boy said without any undertone, whipping his tears away to see the man's face clearly. It was marked with a notable account of scars and the brightest eye color the child had ever seen.

The man nodded slowly. „You can call me Lack-One. And you were inside of that car?", he wanted to know.

Instead of answering, Kyohei reacted to his name. „Lack-One, huh?", he repeated, saying it with contempt. „That's a bad code name. Can you tell me your real one?"

His counterpart was stunned by this boy's intelligence. „No, I'm afraid I can't, I'm not allowed to do that", he said slowly in his surprise. „Could you tell me if you've been inside of that car?"

„Yes, together with my parents", the boy answered his question and started to cry again when saying the last two words.

Lack-One was rather interested in the child than he was in his parents. „Now, don't you cry." This time, he whipped away Kyohei's tears. „You survived that explosion fully unharmed?"

„I think so. But I'm not in trouble, I didn't do anything", the boy declared, stunning the man once again.

„No, you're not in trouble", he agreed. „I'd like to do some tests with you, if you have nothing else on your schedule."

Once again, Kyohei whined increasingly. „I wanted to have fun with my parents", he said slowly.

And Lack-One nodded. „Then you'll have fun with me."

The boy's weeping slowly became retainably louder. „And what would I have to do?"

These words earned the man's smile. „Oh, not much. All you have to do is stop crying. For good, I mean." Kyohei squinted as hard as he could and brushed his tears away one last time, never crying afterwards ever again. „Yes, that's right, you machine!"

* * *

Probably Hugh was right, but Lack-Two didn't care. The pendant was what mattered. While Leo and Hugh reached the bottom of the stages and ran towards the river Whi-Two fell into, the detective pulled out his grappling iron. He took one second to decide which one of the five trees on the other side was most suited, then fired his gadget and jumped as soon as it clamped.  
He took a curve in his flight, and as he closed in with the side he started on, he lowered on the rope until he could reach the water with his hand and got hold of the unconscious girl's hand in his first try. Her weight made it impossible for him to still reach the shoreline with his swing, but he came close enough to swim the last bit and pull her back on solid ground. Afterwards, he carefully removed the pendant from her neck and left without another look at her or his friends running towards them.

The two boys stopped as they came to the place where he left Whi-Two. „Where's he going?", Leo wanted to know as he watched the superintendent quickly walk away through the woods.

„It doesn't matter", Hugh snapped as he knelt down to feel the girl's pulse. „She's alive." He took a deep breath and calmed down a little. „We have to bring her to a hospital."

While the taller boy lifted her shoulders, his friend did the same with her legs, and together they carried her all the way. Whi-Two sneezed once due to the cold air of the night, but didn't wake up and only sank deeper into her fever dreams. Or rather nightmares...

* * *

„Where's daddy?", a frightened girl asked her mother as the latter leaded her down a long corridor of a very big house. She heard someone call it 'castle', but didn't know what that meant. Maybe that was a term for big houses, but hers had always been small.

„He's hiding somewhere, Sweetie, but we will search for him later", the woman answered. One could hear by the sound of her voice that she was lying. Never would she search for him, and only hoped he wouldn't search for them.

Then a man in a long brown robe with a strange hat approached them. He shook their hands politely with a friendly smile to which the girl's face reacted by being less frightened. However, she still was. „You can call me Rood", the man introduced himself. „May I know your names, Ladies?"

The woman took it on herself to answer for both of them. „My name is Lydia, this is my daughter Mei. I worked in a Pokemon Daycare, but..." What followed was adult talk, the girl deducted by the fact that she didn't get anything. So while they were busy with talking, she sneaked away and walked on through the corridor.

Soon a big door caught her eyes. It differed from the others by being half-opened. What she already saw inside were walls carefully painted green and thereby contrasting the usual colors in the big house, seeming rather inviting. So she took it as an invitation and carefully lurked through the door.  
Inside she found a boy at about ten years age with green hair sitting on the carpet next to a toy train talking to a Pokemon unknown to her. It was black and had shaggy fur with some red tips, looking pretty amused by the words the boy whispered. They didn't notice her, so she kept watching them, feeling strangely attracted. And because of that she stepped in after about a minute.

As he heard her steps, the boy looked up at her. He smiled thus kindly... „Hello, call me N." He held out his hand for her. „Can you tell me your name, too?"

She slowly reached out for the hand. „I... I am M-Mei", the girl stuttered shyly. And before she could overcome this timidity, Rood hurried in, followed by her mother.

„Girl, you're not allowed in here", the sage moaned. „Please, follow me. If the wrong person finds you in this room, you can get into serious trouble."

As her mother grabbed Mei's arm, N let go of her other hand. He still smiled. „Can't she stay another minute? She's nice", the boy said calmly.

Rood found it hard to turn down his request. But he had to – for their good. „I'm sorry, young Lord, but I fear she can't."

Now N nodded understandingly. „Okay, sir." As the adults already turned to leave, he whispered one last thing to her. „I hope I see you again in the corridors one day. I want to introduce you to Zorua." She couldn't return anything since she was pulled out right afterwards, but the image of this kind smiling boy burned into her memory and stayed.

* * *

Leo and Hugh were sitting next to the hospital bed waiting for their classmate to wake up. It was becoming morning, and the sun would rise soon, but neither of them had slept, or tried to. Ignoring Hugh's protests, Leo had called Cheren and told him about everything that had happened during the night, from Lack-Two going crazy to them carrying Whi-Two all the way to the hospital. All the two of them could do now was waiting.

At this image of her Lord N, Mei slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't gain full consciousness, it only lasted for about five seconds. However, that was enough to stutter two words expressing the only thing she could think of in time. „M-my pen- My pendant..." Then her eyelids fell again, and she went back to deep slumber.

„What did she say?", Leo asked as he leaped up, not having heard her exact words.

Hugh raised slowly and walked towards the door. „Come on, Leo", he almost ordered as his friend didn't follow.

„Huh? Where are we going?", the smaller boy questioned again.

Hugh's answer was more than determined. „We'll take back her pendant."


	2. Chapter 2: Lost

**The empty heart**

* * *

 **Here's the second chapter of this story. I hope it's good enough to make you forgive me for not having any idea what to write a Christmas story about. However, enjoy this tale nonetheless.**

 **I'd always love to know what you like or dislike about my story, be it the content, my writing style or anything else you want to say. ^^**

 **I don't own the characters, places or Pokemon itself, and I have no intentions to earn money with this story in any way!**

* * *

The next time Whi-Two woke up was at 10am. Hugh and Leo were long gone to search for Lack-Two, and Cheren guarded her sleep instead. She found that this time keeping her eyes open was easier. „What... What happened?", she asked after making sure she wouldn't loose consciousness again.

Her teacher had just been staring on his Xtransceiver, reading about how to handle such situations, as her words startled him. He quickly turned around to look at her. „You apparently jumped down from the Lookout. Hugh and Leo brought you here. I was told Lack-Two was involved somehow, but that's all I know."  
His words only earned a slow nod from the girl, so he tried to change the topic. „Your mother also wanted to come, but she didn't show up. I heard local residents saw her leave the house together with an unfamiliar man in a brown trench coat for whatever reason."

The former Team Plasma grunt didn't respond. She deducted from this a partner of that boy had arrested her mother. They would probably come back for her then, and she couldn't escape anymore.

Cheren couldn't stand the silence in this room. He was still quite new in this job, and nothing had prepared him for a situation like this. He had to get out. Students would be a better company than he had been, wouldn't they? So he planned to get back to the school and send some of the girls in his class who were under the care of a substitute teacher at the moment. „You should sleep a little more, Whi-Two. I'll send some of your friends to keep you company when you wake up again", he suggested, being already on his way out.

„Goodbye, Mr Cheren", Whi-Two mumbled. Maybe he didn't hear her, but she didn't care. Her eyelids sank slowly, and it wasn't long until she drifted off.

* * *

Mei couldn't sleep in this castle at night, and dozed off during the speeches of so-called sages in the daytime. It was her third night in these facilities, and the third night she couldn't close her eyes. This place scared her. Everything here scared her. Everything except for this boy, but she hadn't seen him again. She couldn't even find his room because everything here was just too big.  
The only thing she was sure of was that she didn't want to stay. Stay in this bed, stay in this room, stay in this castle. So she stood up. Looking at the clock, she found it was way past midnight already. She knew her parents always slept at that time, and she thought maybe every adult did. There was nobody around when she looked through the peephole of the door to her room, which the girl had found to be pretty useful. Since the corridor was empty, she was able to sneak out for her late night walk evading all possible troubles.

Her destination was the roof terrace, her favorite place here. Favorite place meant the only place she would have missed if she had left. Mei enjoyed gazing at the stars above the castle more than anything, being amazed by their beauty more than she had been amazed by the boy. She didn't know how much time she spent deciding which of them formed symbols, but it must have been hours.

There was still nobody around when she left the terrace to not be seen by the early birds. She got rather imprudent when entering the corridor leading to her room, and was surprised by seeing two men standing at the last crossroad she had to pass. They talked quietly with each other until they heard her steps. The little girl managed to hide behind a pillar only fractures of seconds before the two of them turned around.

„Did you hear that, Zinzolin?", a slightly rasping voice asked.

A cold and weak voice answered. „Indeed, my Lord."

„We can not risk that anybody hears us", the 'Lord' slowly said as he walked towards the source of the sounds. As she heard his steps getting closer, the girl felt utterly terrified. Those men seemed violent, and her mother had warned her about this kind of people – people like her father.

„And why not?", Zinzolin wanted to know. His words made his superior stop in his tracks. „Why would we care if one of these fools knew about our plans? It's not like they can stop us."

The other man let out a sigh. „Oh, my friend, they most certainly can. We need them for our plans, and we need them to believe this is about liberating the Pokemon. This is why they play along, and we can not do it without them playing along."

„Right, I get it", the sage agreed, mostly because he didn't want to take part in this conversation. He rather wanted to find the one spying on them and punish whoever was responsible.

So his counterpart went on. It was when he had almost reached her hiding place that the lost girl saw N carefully looking around the corner. He apparently got the situation immediately and hurried towards the men. „Father, there are some people fighting at the other side of the castle", he said to the man closer to his friend.

N's father was evidently surprised to see the boy, but tried to pretend this was normal. „Is that so? And they wouldn't listen to you?", he wanted to know, suddenly sounding very gentle.

„They won't stop, no matter what I do. If nobody interferes, their Pokemon might get hurt", his son explained, earning a slow nod.

Alright, thank you for telling me, son. I'll see what I can do about it." N put on a slight smile as his father said these words, and for a short moment the girl thought he gave her a wink. Then the man addressed Zinzolin again. „Could you escort him back to his room while I take care of everything?"

„Of course, my Lord", the other man quickly confirmed, and then watched his superior leave. The girl wasn't able to see it from her position, but Zinzolin was now smiling evily as he grabbed the boy's arm. „So, 'young Lord', why don't you tell me what you heard when spying on us?"

The cluelessness in N's voice when he said the following words wasn't fake like his worry before had been. „Spying? I wasn't spying, I just wanted to..."

However, the sage disrupted him with a devious laugh. „Ghetsis might believe you everything, but just because you're his son I won't let you do whatever you want." He dragged the boy away through one of the other corridors. „I'll make you regret your deeds, I promise."  
Mei had to wait until they were all gone before she could move, so she could do nothing but listening to N soon starting to scream in pain as they kept departing further. She had never been able to forget his screams. It was her fault this amazing and kind boy had to suffer. She had never forgotten his screams...

* * *

Whi-Two wasn't waken up by the memories this time. But as Yuuko, Mayu and Yuki entered to visit their friend, they heard her whimper in her sleep. It was Yuki who spoke up first. „How do you think she hurt herself like that?", she whispered to her friends.

„I heard someone say Lack-Two pushed her", Mayu said quite insecure.

„Don't say that", Yuki protested. „If she really has been pushed, it sure was Hugh."

Yuuko nodded. „Yes, that sounds more likely. I mean, he went missing after yesterday evening, too, didn't he?"

„Hm, so did Leo. I wonder if there's something going on", Mayu murmured.

Yuki took a short moment to think before speaking out what probably all of the three thought. „Whatever it is, it definitely isn't Lack-Two's fault!"

Whi-Two's subconscious caught a few of their lines while she slept. If only they knew what she knew, she thought. If only they knew Lack-Two was the most cold-blooded deceiver one could imagine...

Said boy had just entered the Pokemon Center calmly. People greeted him as he came in, but since he just watched while his friend jumped down from the Lookout only a few hours ago, maybe it wasn't surprising that he ignored them. He went straight for the communication device in the corner.

It would allow him to send the data stick removed from the girl's pendant directly to the chief of Interpol. He had spoken to his direct superior many times, however always about work, and he had no intention to change that. He still remembered his first talk with the firm man.

* * *

Lack-One leaded the boy through a big building. Even compared with the other skyscrapers of Castellia City it was big. Kyohei was slightly nervous, but that was the only emotion he felt when looking into some offices and out of large windows showing how high above the ground they currently were. „Here we are", the young man finally said when reaching a black door in one of the top floors.  
It was the office belonging to the chief of the International Police, as the letters next to the door read. The boy had questioned what was so special about him that made him deserve this honor. The agent said he couldn't answer that and kept being as stunned by him as before. So Kyohei figured it was because he would be experimented with. This was at least partly correct.

As the two of them waited in front of the door, the younger one could hear two people speaking inside. „So, will you consider bearing the costs for my project?", a rather soft voice asked with a trace of excitement.

The man who answered sounded more serious, somewhat grave and croaky. „I'm very sorry, Mr Colress, but I can't see investing in your device actually be worthwhile. Sadly, that's my final answer."

„That's fine, really", Colress returned. Then Kyohei heard him chuckling. „In this case, I'll sure find someone else to provide me with the necessary resources and give my best so you can regret this decision."

The sound of two men standing up rang out. „Good luck and goodbye", his counterpart saw him off.

The boy turned towards his attendant. „What project were they talking about?", he wanted to know.

Lack-One looked at him with his eyes wide open. „You can understand what they're saying? This wall is supposed to be completely soundproof..."  
It was at this moment that the door opened. A man dressed in a white lab coat stepped out of the room with a slightly amused smile. The young man watched how he left for a moment, then he snapped out of his thoughts and entered the room. The boy followed guardedly.

„Sir", the agent said after saluting and sitting down. „I've come to present you the boy as announced. He has passed all our tests without having any trouble and..."

His chief disrupted him. „How old is he?"

Apparently, Lack-One didn't want to answer, since what follows was silence. So Kyohei did. „I'm almost seven."

The consequence of these words was another break. It lasted for about thirty seconds and was only interrupted by the gaffer's whispering. „Agent, are you out of your mind?"

„I promise, Sir, this child is a prodigy.", the younger man assured. „He has the highest score of all our contenders, his senses are preternatural and..." For a second, he hesitated. „He has just recently been freed from all emotional bonds."

„Yet still he's just a child", his counterpart murmured.

Kyohei followed their conversation fully aware of what both interlocutors' aims were. He had never been told by Lack-One, though – he read it in their faces. He heard their words, saw their facial expressions and gesturing, analyzed their surroundings, in this case the bureau, and afterwards knew more about the conversation than even the two of them: He knew what it would lead to.  
However, the agent came closer to his boss and lowered his voice, probably hoping the boy wouldn't hear them. He still had no problems to do so, but pretended so the conversation wouldn't be influenced. „This boy is so much more than a child. He is a machine. And it would be better if he was our machine than anyone else's."

The old man's doubts weren't reduced a lot, but he was ready to listen. „A machine, you say?"

„If we raise him the right way, he'll be a weapon."  
After this claim of Lack-One, the discussion proceeded, and it took all the turns the child had predicted. After a short amount of time, he had an idea of the chief's appearance, character traits and attitude towards his work. He liked how the man stayed firm and realistic despite his opinion, but still questioned his interest in the development of unnecessary weapons. On that day, he didn't understand he'd become exactly that soon.

About thirty minutes later, the two men stood up. „Well then, I expect you to take complete responsibility for everything the boy does and ensure he will deliver as you promise", the boss concluded before addressing Kyohei. „Welcome at Interpol, agent Lack-Two."

„Still a bad code name", was all he mumbled in response.

* * *

The man answered the call after exactly twenty seconds. „Even dust, when plied...", he started.

„...can become a mountain", Lack-Two ended the phrase. „Sir, I have retrieved the data stick as I was ordered to. I am able to send it to you now."

„Excellent work, agent. You have proven your reliability once again, so you'll be the one ending the job. Your next step will be searching for any trace of Team Plasma and arrest their leaders with the aids we can send you now that we have the data", his superior instructed him.

The boy nodded. „Understood, Sir." Then he used the teleporter to despatch the stick. He watched on the monitor how the chief examined it for a short while.

After laying it aside, he gave the boy another look. „Is there anything else, agent?", he wanted to know, probably noticing something in Lack-Two's look not even the child knew of.

Taken aback by this question, the young superintendent started to stutter. „Sir, the girl..." His counterpart raised an eyebrow. „She fell. I..." Then Lack-Two blinked, and whatever had just been there was gone. „If she told anyone about it, our status could be damaged."

„Very well, make sure she doesn't", was the answer, and then the man turned to end the call.

„One more thing, Sir", the detective quickly said. His chief stopped moving, which was enough of a reaction to assume he was listening. „Now that you saw how the Colress Device works, do you... Do you regret your decision not to invest?"

The addressed person's eyes widened. „This conversation is over, agent", was the only answer he got before the screen went dark. More words weren't needed to answer.

Kyohei took a deep breath and turned to leave the Pokemon Center. However, as he wanted to do so, Leo and Hugh entered. They were almost out of air, as they had run through the entire city searching for him. But exhaustion would never be enough to stop Hugh's rage. „We came for the pendant, and we're not leaving without it!", he screamed as he spotted his target. Everyone in the room turned towards them.

The reaction of their classmate was anything but what they had expected: He took the wanted object out of his pocket and threw it over to the bawler. „Stop making a scene in public, Hugh." Said twelve-year-old was completely stunned by this behavior as Lack-Two walked up to them. „You can't walk the way back to the hospital, my assistant may bring us there", he pointed out.

„But why?", Leo questioned as soon as he reached the two of them.

The answer sounded as emotionless as possible. „Because it's my job."

Hugh, being tired of not understanding this mind, stomped on the ground as the agent had passed them to take the lead. „What are you?"

„You know who I am", Lack-Two started again. „International Police Superintendent Bla-"

But the blue-haired lout disrupted him. „I didn't ask who, I asked what."

At these words, Lack-Two stopped in his tracks. He turned around, and in his eyes the two boys saw something unexpected – candor. „I'm empty."


	3. Chapter 3: Hurt

**The empty heart**

* * *

 **I haven't written for way too long and I'm terribly sorry. I already mentioned I lost the document for this when my laptop broke, and even after I got myself a new one, having to start writing the same thing for a second time stole a lot of my motivation. But it's finished now, finally, and I can move on.  
Did I say only three chapters? Well, the longer something takes the more ideas I get on how to expand it. So let's see about that.**

 **I'd always love to know what you like or dislike about my story, be it the content, my writing style or anything else you want to say. ^^**

 **I don't own the characters, places or Pokemon itself, and I have no intentions to earn money with this story in any way!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Hurt**

Looker waited in a fancy black car parked a few steps away from the Pokemon Center, reading the August's edition of the monthly newspaper. The three boys didn't talk on the way there, but Hugh couldn't resist commenting on the agents' way of traveling. „Tell me, how much do Interpol members earn for a job like this?", he asked half-jokingly.

„You think my work is about money?", Lack-Two wanted to know in return, keeping his voice as serious as he always did.

Hugh faked a chuckle. „You're not putting much effort into making it look like it isn't."  
The superintendent didn't respond to this, so silence followed once again, only disrupted by him ordering his subordinate to drive them to the hospital. Looker didn't understand why they had to go there, but he had stopped calling the boy's decisions into question long before.  
After about half of the way, the oldest of the three children found another question to ask. „Tell me, how do you justify making a girl attempt taking her own life in front of the public?"

„I don't have to." Lack-Two's answer was cold and calculated. „Nobody can tell anyone what happened last night without risking putting Whi-Two in danger as well. We would, of course, get into trouble, but that's nothing compared to the reactions she would have to face. Would you dare that?" He had told his boss otherwise before but had always known this was right. Nobody would accept the girl's exclusion from society just to give him some extra work.

And Hugh found this statement to be correct, too. „Where do you learn such things?"

There was just one answer the agent could give. „You really don't want to know."

* * *

When the woman who had shown him everything he needed to know in the Interpol Headquarters leaded him into the dimly lit cellar room intended for combat training, Lack-One was already there, fighting a big muscular man in his late thirties. The battle seemed pretty balanced at first.  
„Miss, am I supposed to train here?", Kyohei asked his accompanist while following the duel interested.

„I'm afraid so", she returned shortly. One could hear by the sound of her voice she was very unpleasant with the idea of him fighting.

He nodded, shortly before he heard the dull sound of an impact as his mentor hit the ground. The boy thought this would end the battle and turned towards the woman again, noticing only now that she desperately tried to find something on her data pad that could distract her from what went on in front of them: Lack-One's opponent pressed him on the ground with one hand and kept punching him with the other while he could do nothing about it.  
Upon witnessing that, Kyohei ran towards the combatants and tried to pull the attacker away from his victim. „That's enough, you already won!", the new agent cried, not understanding what was going on.

However, it only leaded to him being pushed away before the man went on. „Kid, if you want to work here you have to learn one thing first: Every opponent you don't take care of will stab you from behind", he exclaimed and then knocked Lack-One out with a final hit.  
These words burned into Kyohei's memory. He would be taught many things like this, but that exact moment made him what he was meant to become.

And after the young man had been declared as defeated by the woman with an indisposed voice, his opponent stood up and turned towards the mentee. „So, it's your turn, boy. Come here."

* * *

„But aren't Interpol agents supposed to be the good guys?", Leo inquired, still uncomprehending regarding his former friend's behavior.

The addressed closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat before reacting. „You can't separate the world into good and evil because those are subjective qualities. Some might consider rather harsh method's appropriate for people like Team Plasma. However, more important is that there is still always justification. I have been taught to differentiate between what's justified and what's not. Therefore, I will do what is right, not because it's compulsively good, but because it's justified."

None of the passengers had anything to respond to this, so they went quiet for a short moment, only so Hugh could speak up again, asking what everybody was thinking. „Are you actually twelve?"

„No", Lack-Two sighed, and the two other boys were relieved for a short moment. A very short moment. „But I'll be twelve in a month."

Soon, Whi-Two saw the black car parking near the hospital from her window. Ever since she had moved to Aspertia City, she had not seen such a fancy vehicle. So she knew what was coming. Just like two years ago – International Police...  
It wasn't like she hadn't fled a place before. She had fled from them before. But today she was bound to the bed. No escape, no help, no last chance.

It still reminded her of last time, though...

* * *

The little girl heard the fast footsteps first. She had no idea what was going on. Of course, the sages had informed everyone the castle could emerge today and that there would be a huge battle. But this was beyond huge: There was fighting in every corner of the residence, the commotion made every conversation impossible and the poor Mei roamed about alone, searching for anyone she knew.  
And then she heard the footsteps. They differed from any other noise in her surroundings by just one thing: They sounded well-ordered.

Anthea and Concordia were the first persons she recognized. They just tried to have a talk about Lord N's battle, which they were watching through a window, when the girl approached them. „An army is below us!", she cried apprehensively.

„An army?", one of the sisters repeated confused. Their warriors already had problems with the casual trainers' resistance, so this was definitely bad. „Are you sure?"

„Yes", Mei confirmed. „There are organized fighters one level lower, I'm sure."

The two young women looked at each other. „Interpol…", they whispered.

„What's ‚Interpol'?", the young one questioned.

The goddesses gave each other another look. „That's not important right now", Anthea decided.

„When they're already here, we have to leave", Concordia pointed out. „We'll meet at the western exit on the first floor as soon as possible, make sure you get there without them seeing you."

The girl nodded and watched them leave in a hurry to inform everyone about the evacuation. She didn't follow instantly, though, since she saw her chance to see Lord N through the window. So she watched him fight. And she watched him lose.  
She couldn't quite understand the outcome of the battle. What had happened, and where did they go? But she understood that her favorite had lost to this stranger who attacked him. She ran. In the end, she reached the point where Anthea and Concordia waited, though she couldn't remember how she got there. She hadn't even watched where she had been going. Only when she saw the lot of expensive black cars that had been parked outside, Mei realized how lucky she had been. When she learned what Interpol was, she hoped she would never encounter one of them again.

* * *

Whi-Two watched as Lack-Two emerged from the car. The others stayed behind at first.

While Hugh kept his eyes on the superintendent, Leo grew interested in their driver. „Say, do you work with him full-time?", he wanted to know.

Looker turned towards him, surprised to be addressed. „Yes, in the case of Team Plasma at least."

„How is it? Is he always that…", Leo started. He didn't know how to end that sentence himself.

The detective knew how to answer, though: „I think Lack-Two is like fire. He protects you, scares off your enemy. But come too close and you'll get burned…"

In the meantime, said boy knocked at the door of Whi-Two's room. She was so taken aback by him actually knocking instead of just breaking in that she couldn't have answered, even if she wanted. And since she didn't answer, he didn't come in. After about a minute, he knocked again.

The girl sighed. This wouldn't lead to anything. Why couldn't he just get through with it? „Come in", she bellyached.  
He stepped in. He looked at her with an examining gaze. Then he sat down on a chair close to her bed. „What now?", she asked. She didn't understand his behavior at all.

„I don't know", the young agent admitted. His voice indicated that he was partly lost in his thoughts.

„You're not here to arrest me, then?", Whi-Two dared asking. What was going on with this boy?

He shook his head. „Nobody arrests you. I sent the data chip to our headquarters. Since it proves we share the same enemy, I got an acquittal for you." When she opened her mouth to say something, he added „And your mother, of course."

She didn't know how to respond to this, but one question still was unanswered. „If so, why are you here?"

Lack-Two hesitated for a moment. „Because I don't understand this", Kyohei admitted.

„That makes us two, I guess." The girl was only more confused by his words. Was this the same agent that drove her to take the fall? The more she looked, the more he wasn't lost in thoughts – just lost.

„Is this how it feels like?", he wanted to know. The words came out so suddenly she thought she heard him wrong.

Mei eyed him up, seeing he really expected that answer. „How what feels?"

„Anything", the boy then groaned. She had to decide if she should be taken aback by either his words or how fast his voice could change. „Is this how it feels to feel anything?"

„I... I don't think I understand the question", Whi-Two said, now actually trying to follow his train of thoughts but finding herself unable to do so again.

So he tried to explain. „You're good at feeling. You were ready to die because of your feelings, so... Please, tell me what this is. Why am I thus... Why can't I...", he found it hard to express the final problem. „Is this feeling?"

And because she still didn't get it, she looked into his eyes. They were not cold this time, not empty. There was something, anything. And she got an idea of what he just asked. „You... don't know that? How can you not know that?"

As Lack-Two returned her gaze, he saw something widely related to care. She meant it, she wanted to help but needed more information, he deduced. „I mustn't feel. I forgot how to feel, I had to", he stated, speaking slowly but not as calm as usual.

„Because of Interpol?", Whi-Two inquired.

„Because of my parents' death", he returned.

Silence fell. This statement kept hanging in the room. Mei had no idea what to say. Never had she thought that this boy, this top agent of the International Police, had to have parents. And they were dead. She couldn't link the pieces outright, still it made so much sense. They were dead, and he knew it. She wouldn't want to feel that either.  
„Sorry...", she murmured after a while, uncomfortable with him just sitting there looking into the distance, basically staring at the wall.

He turned towards her again. „For what?" His voice had changed again, without a trace of the old one. It was so soft now, yet in no way lively.

She searched for an answer. There had been one, but it was lost. „I don't know." It bothered both of them that not knowing seemed to be everything the conversation would lead up to.

He decided to change the topic. He took the pendant out of his pocket. Hugh had given it back to him when they decided he had to go in first. Whi-Two's eyes widened as she saw it. Noticing that, he wasted no more time with it and tossed it over to her. The girl stared at it unbelieving for a moment. Then she opened it to check on its content. The memory card was gone, obviously, but her picture of Lord N was still there. Somehow she smiled. He didn't understand how a picture of that man could make her smile now. „What do you see in him?"

This took her by surprise. She needed a second to understand he noticed her look, and another one to understand the question. Afterwards, she still had to think about a right answer. He waited quite patiently, following the process of her thoughts attentively.  
„Well, he cares so much about others. A few years ago, he saved me by taking my punishment. I could never make up for that... He does so much, just to make those around him more comfortable. And we share an immense care for Pokemon that are treated rude by humans", was her answer.

He listened carefully. „That was nice of him", Lack-Two said after a short time. „But he's still a criminal. He's crossing too many lines, his actions seem extreme and unjustified."

„They do to you. But to us they don't", Whi-Two almost snapped, trying not to take this personally. She found it hard to just listen to him insulting her Lord N. Something deep inside her knew he was at least partly right, but everything else denied that.

„To you few. It's not just me who thinks that way, courts are in agreement that his methods have to many victims as a consequence and..." He wanted to go on, but she disrupted him.

„Please stop", she whispered. She couldn't hear this, she couldn't think about this.

He stopped. He complied. „I'm sorry", Kyohei spoke after a break. His tone was now exactly like hers had been when she had said these words.

The girl of Team Plasma looked at the picture of her leader another time. What would he have done with this boy? „It's okay", she conceded. „But I think you should leave now."

He left without another word. He didn't even react to Hugh and Leo, who were waiting on the corridor for him to call them in, or tell them how it went, or anything at all. Leo's pleading and Hugh's shouting didn't suffice to make him even turn towards them. Neither did the kind words of the woman at the reception desk.  
As he left the building, he noticed how cold it was for the first time. He looked around, seeing an empty road slowly being covered by the falling snowflakes, seeing his vehicle standing lonely on the car park, seeing people standing in their windows simply admiring the snow. And he felt alone. He felt.

When he approached the car in which Looker waited for him, he had a million questions on his mind. Was feeling always like that? How could it be a good thing to feel this way? Would they forgive him after a while? Could he just go on like before after what happened?  
Looker was older, maybe more experienced with these feelings than him. He had to know at least some answers. But when Lack-Two finally sat down on the passenger seat, he could only express one issue: „Looker, is it actually snowing in August?"


End file.
